Graduate student Craig Ulrich carried out his first published research project not in a university lab, but as a prison inmate. In 2004 Ulrich accidentally shot and killed a college classmate. Convicted of first-degree manslaughter (which in Washington state means a death caused through recklessness), he ended up at the Cedar Creek Corrections Center in Littlerock, Wash. His college background in biology made him a perfect candidate to work in the facility’s composting program, set up by Evergreen State College in nearby Olympia. Data he collected appeared in a 2009 research paper showing t... (p. 32)

Physicists use X-rays to probe how a fluid can support a person's weight. (p. 13)

Iron-rich tissue may be at root of a biological compass. (p. 13)

Redesigned nickel-iron battery gives modern lithium-ion devices a run for their money. (p. 12)